A Fairy Tale in Fairy Tail
by DHendsbee13
Summary: Love is in the air and things are starting to change for the members of fairy tail. Will Their new relationships last? Or will it end in heartbreak? Find out in this Fairy Tail adventure with Lucy/Erza, NatsuXLisanna and GrayXJuvia. Special thanks to Sarroush for being an awesome beta and making this story better.
1. A Failed Mission And A Broken Heart

Erza ran from the giant worm chasing her. "We can't fight this thing right now. We need Natsu to get here…and fast". She said to Lucy who was running right beside her.

"Are you crazy?!" Lucy shouted. "Do you actually think we can rely on Natsu of all people?!"

"Our magic isn't strong enough to pierce its armored shell. His fire should be strong enough to melt it. Then we can destroy it together." Erza stated firmly.

'_Natsu…please, hurry!'_ Lucy thought.

They eventually reached the end of the cliff.

Lucy was holding her knees and panting as she looked to Erza for some kind of answer.

"What now?" Lucy inquired.

Erza didn't answer; instead, she requiped into her Heaven's Wheel Armor. She looked at Lucy and then stepped in front of her, the worm charging head on.

_Lucy…_ She gripped the swords in her hands very tightly. _I will protect you._ She readied herself for the worm`s attack.

"Er…za? What…are you doing?"

"Distracting it long enough for Natsu to get here".

The worm was closing in rather fast. Lucy knew the best Erza could do at the moment was stall it with a barrage of swords for a few moments, and then get flung away rather roughly. Lucy didn't want to see Erza in pain. To spare her, she only knew of one way. Avoid the worm. She hadn't exactly thought it through, but she assumed it would all work out in the end.

She ran in front of Erza, turned towards her and tackled her with all her might. Before Erza could react, they were falling off the cliff at high speed. Lucy tried to grab her keys. She wanted to summon Aries for a more comfortable fall. One that did not insure their deaths. However, as uncomfortable as Erza's armor was in her face, she felt safe holding the red head with both arms. Erza on the other hand was dazed out. On the one hand, she had Lucy holding onto her very tightly, which, she enjoyed. On the other, she was expecting her imminent death. Various thoughts and events crossed through her mind. Things she wished she had more time to do, things she regretted. She was caught out of her daze when she heard Lucy's exclamation.

"My plan worked!"

Erza slowly opened her eyes. Fleuve d'etoiles, Lucy's whip, was tightly wrapped around a tree branch hanging over the cliff, while Lucy was trying to hold Erza by her waist.

'_I didn't want to let Erza go…But I didn't want her to die either…And I wasn't sure how efficient Aries would be in breaking our big fall…'_ Lucy kept thinking to herself.

"The worm charged right at us and went over the edge of the cliff!" She stated happily.

Erza, on the other hand, wasn't as happy.

"Lucy…You do realize the predicament we're in don't you?"

Lucy tried to play the fool.

"We're hanging off a cliff! What on earth do we do now?!" Erza said, starting to stress.

"Losing your armor would be nice…I don't think I can hold you for much longer".

Erza sighed deeply and requiped into her regular Heart Kreuz outfit.

"Now all we have to do is wait for Natsu…" Lucy said unsure if he would ever come.

After what felt like hours of yelling for Natsu, Lucy's arm started to go numb. Erza was holding onto her; however both their strengths had begun fading.

"Lucy, I'm slipping!" Erza exclaimed.

"Hold on! Don't let go!" Lucy yelled "NATSU! HAPPY! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

Erza closed her eyes once more. She went back to thinking about life. '_Is this how it all ends? My final moments spent holding onto Lucy for dear life? If she didn't have such soft hands, or such a sweet smell my grip wouldn't loosen! Wait_…_I can't be thinking about things like this right now!'_

Lucy felt her grip loosening until she was no longer holding Erza. The latter fell. Fast. Her body felt a wave of coldness as her mind went completely black.

Erza awoke to find herself surrounded by her comrades Lucy, Gray and Natsu respectively.

"She's awake!" Lucy shouted. "Thank goodness…" She added in a small whisper.

"What on earth happened?" Erza wondered as she slowly started getting up while resting her palm on her forehead.

"The boys got here just in time! Gray was able to surround you with thick enough ice to break your fall." Lucy said sounding relieved.

"And it used up all of my magical energy." Gray added for no apparent reason.

"And Natsu pulled me back up to safety!" Lucy said.

"You idiot!" Erza shouted. "Why the hell would you push us off a cliff like that?! We could have died!"' _...You…could have died…_ ' She thought. However, her stern attitude would not allow her to show a weak side when she was supposed to be reprimanding a team member for having taken such a big risk. "Lately you've been trying to pull off these dangerous plots as if they are some bold genius plan but the reality is that you're the reason we've been falling behind missions these past few weeks". She didn't mean it. It sounded very mean. She bit her lip in frustration. _'This isn't what Fairy Tail members say…no matter the blunder…Erza…snap out of it'._

Lucy was speechless. She knew she'd been pulling them down because she wasn't as strong as them, though she didn't think it was anything out of the ordinary.

"I'm sorry. I…I just didn't want you to come in harm's way". She said looking down in shame and guilt.

"Lucy…" Erza gently caressed Lucy's cheek.

"I'm sorry…" Lucy started whimpering. "I know I'm weak. I know I can't match up to any of you. But I still wanted to protect you, Erza! We're friends, aren't we?!"

"You are. However, that doesn't justify you putting her in danger, nor does it justify pulling us back on our missions". Gray said coldly.

"Gray, don't you think that's too much?! No matter what happens or how many mistakes she makes, she's still a part of our team!" Natsu added with rage building up.

"It's alright Natsu. They're both right. Erza could have probably held that worm off long enough for you to come rescue us. I needlessly put both of us at risk…I'm sorry." Lucy stepped away from Erza's touch. The former was clearly crying. She knew of her blunders and how she had put the lovely red-head in life threatening danger.

_I…Erza…I really…_She wiped the thought out of her mind before it carried her away, and abruptly left.

"Are you happy now? You made Lucy cry!" Natsu roared.

"Lay off hothead. She HAS been holding us off as of late." Gray said.

"That doesn't change the fact that she's part of our team. We ALWAYS have each other's backs no matter the mistakes we make! What's happened to you guys?! You were never like this before!" Natsu exclaims.

"There are some mistakes not so simply forgiven, Natsu! She's probably learned her lesson by now anyways."

Natsu clenched his fist in anger and ran off after Lucy.

"Erza, are you alright?" Gray asked.

"I'm fine." This time, Erza was reprimanding herself for reprimanding Lucy. She knew she got carried away. But her protective instincts got the best of her. Lucy meant a lot to her. How exactly? She did not understand at the moment. But she knew Lucy was very important to her. She wanted to protect her. When she heard that Lucy had wanted to protect her instead, she felt incompetent. It was her job to protect Lucy, not the opposite! Erza needed to get things straightened out with Lucy. Apologize for her childish behaviour. And, she had to figure out exactly what these feelings she had, were.


	2. A small job and a plan

Natsu awoke from his nap and saw Lucy, Erza, Happy and Gray picking berries and placing them in baskets. "You guys aren't done yet?" he asked between yawns.

"Well it would be a lot faster if you helped." Gray replied

"Eeeehh?! But it's such a pain!" Natsu said though he ended up grabbing a basket and helped by picking up berries. "So why are we picking berries anyway? Are we making some sort of fruit salad?" he wondered.

"No, it's a job that was posted to every guild in Fiore with a 100 Jewel reward to everyone who helps."

Natsu had a confused look on his face. "Why did we take such a boring job with such little pay?"

"It was Erza's idea." Gray replied.

Natsu looked over at Erza who was silently picking berries. He then looked to Lucy who was equally silent. "Oh man. It's already been a week, and they still aren't talking?" He asked.

"They already apologized to each other but I guess things are still a bit awkward between them." Gray responded.

"I've never seen them act like this before I wonder why they're acting so weird." Natsu said, more so to himself.

"I think they're in lllllove!" Happy teased.

Natsu started to laugh. "Happy, you think EVERYONE is in love."

"No I don't." He said, pretending to act coy.

"Yes you do. You thought Lucy was in love with Loke. You think Carla will fall in love with you. And you think I'm in love with Lisanna."

"Natsu…you ARE in love with Lisanna." Gray said with a small smirk.

"What did you say?" Natsu asked angrily.

"I said you're in love with Lisanna!" Gray repeated.

"Oh yeah? Say that again ice brain!"

"I just said it twice!"

The two continued to argue. Meanwhile Lucy was silently picking berries. In her mind she knew she was the reason they had been taking such small jobs lately. _'I want to go on real missions like we used to…but I don't want to hold everyone back.'_ she thought. She briefly looked at Erza and then went back to picking berries.

At the same time, Erza was thinking to herself. _'I wonder how long it will be before things get back to normal. I want to go on missions again but I'm afraid for Lucy's wellbeing...I don't want to see her injured or in harm's way. But what if I'm unable to protect her? Then what?'_ She squished a few berries that were in her hand, due to frustration.

Red liquid was flowing from her hand. Lucy looked up because her basket was full. When she saw Erza's hand, fear grew in her, and rather fast. Was Erza bleeding? Was she in pain? What was Lucy to do? She was conflicted. She should run to her and take a look at her injury…

As she was thinking this, Erza opened her palm and a number of berries fell to the ground. Lucy let out a sigh as she realized what was on her hand was not blood.

* * *

Later on at the guild Makarov watched as Lucy and Erza sat on opposite sides of the room doing absolutely nothing. "What's going on with those two?" He asked sitting at the bar.

"They've been acting weird ever since the giant worm mission." Happy said.

"Funny you should mention that." Gray added. "I have a plan to get them talking again and it may solve whatever is going on between them." Gray then proceeded to whisper said plan to Happy, Natsu and Makarov.

"That's…actually…pretty smart coming from you!"Natsu exclaimed.

"What. Did. You. Just. Say?" Gray responded with a threatning voice.

"Haha! Don't sweat the details. Now all we need is to send Erza on a job and we can get started." Natsu said.

"Coincidentally I just received the perfect job request for her" Makarov answered. He then called Erza over.

"Did you need something?" she asked. Rather unenthusiastically.

"I just received a job request asking for you specifically."

"For me?" Erza wondered eagerly.

"Yes. It's from a man who says his daughter is turning ten tomorrow, and he wants you to attend her birthday party. Apparently this girl wants to become a Fairy Tail wizard someday and wants to learn requipping magic from her idol: who happens to be you, Erza. He says he's willing to pay 50,000 jewels".

"Wow. That's a pretty high pay... If it meant that much to her, I would have done it for free. I'm not in the red anyways."

"Maybe you aren't…but some of us are". Natsu said in a small whisper.

Erza heard, and glared at him accordingly. "Did you say something?" She asked in a singsong dangerous tone.

"Eek! No. Nothing at all! Right Happy?! Nothing at all!" Natsu ran behind Lucy.

Makarov ignored what just happened and turned to Happy. "I would like you to go with her. I'm sure the children will enjoy playing with you."

"Aye sir!"


	3. A Knight and her Princess

"Well, I must admit that was actually pretty fun", Erza said to Happy as they rode the train back to Magnolia.

"Those kids sure know how to party!" Happy said excitedly. "Do you think we will go on any more jobs like that?" He inquired.

"I don't know." Erza sighed and looked down to avoid eye contact.

"Is this because of Lucy?" Happy asked.

"What?" She looked up somewhat perplexed.

"Is Lucy the reason we've been taking easy jobs lately?"

"I don't know. I... I just...I don't want her to get hurt." Erza stuttered.

"You really llllllllllllllllllike her, don't you?!" Happy said somewhat snickering.

Erza glared at him. She grabbed him by the face and threw him violently to the back of the train.

Happy came back rubbing his small body to ease the pain.

"That was mean!" Happy said.

"Hmph." Was all Erza replied with, as she stared out at the scenery.

"In any case, maybe you should talk to her about it." Happy said. Which surprised Erza. She never expected to be getting any type of romance advice from a cat of all things.

"You're right." Erza replied, still looking out. "That would probably be the mature thing to do."

* * *

When they arrived in Magnolia, they headed towards Lucy's apartment. When they got there, they were surprised to find Wendy sitting outside.

"Wendy what are you doing here?" Erza asked.

Wendy began to speak in a panicked tone. "I went shopping with Lucy and when we got back Gajeel and Juvia were waiting for us. When we tried talking to them they attacked us and we couldn't hold them off. They took Lucy!"

Erza started panicking, but refrained from showing it to the young girl and the cat. "Wendy, do you know where they went?" She asked quickly.

"I overheard them talking about an abandoned house east of here. But they probably won't stay there for long." The girl said.

"Happy, take Wendy and go back to the guild. Inform Master of what has happened."

"What about you?" Wendy asked.

"I'm going to save Lucy." Erza said with determination.

The group split up and ran in opposite directions.

Once at the abandoned building, Erza stopped to think to herself: _'If I can't protect Lucy now, will I_ _ever be able to?' _She shook her head. '_There is no room for second guessing right now.'_She then opened the door to the building and crept in. She walked down a hallway and heard two voices. She stopped by the wall to listen.

"Salamander. Making us do something like this. His plan better work." It was Gajeel's rough voice, speaking in a frustrated manner.

"Natsu-san? This plan came from Gray-sama!" The other one belonged to Juvia, who was chirpy every time she said Gray's name.

"I don't care who it came from! We're going to be in hot water soon if this plan fails." Gajeel said.

_'Natsu and Gray are involved in this?'_ Erza wondered. She then peeked around the corner to see that they were both facing the opposite direction. _'I should save Lucy before I do anything else.'_She thought as she silently passed Gajeel and Juvia.

She eventually came to a door with a small window. She peered through to find Lucy sitting on a bed reading a weekly sorcerer magazine. '_Weekly Sorcerer? Is this what kidnappers give to people lately?' _She wondered, not sure why herself. She then looked down to see the door was barred shut from the outside. She lifted the bar and opened the door.

Lucy looked up from her reading. As she did, the magazine fell from her hand.

"...Er..za?" She slowly said as she ran to the red head and tightly hugged her.

"Hey..." Erza whispered with a smile, holding the blonde.

"You...came for me." Lucy said on the verge of tears.

"Of course I did. There is no way I wouldn't." Erza whispered in her ear.

Lucy looked up to face the red head. Erza continued. "I'll always be here for you, Lucy. No matter what."

Lucy's eyes widened. She looked down, flushed with embarrassment. She recomposed herself a bit for the purpose of telling Erza that they should leave this place. Erza agreed. They managed to go to the back of the house, unbeknownst to the two kidnappers.

Erza began walking towards the forest with Lucy. However, the latter grabbed the former's arm to have her halt. Erza turned around somewhat confused. Lucy was looking at the ground with a big blush. Her face was completely red. Erza worried, thinking she might have a fever.

"Lucy...are you alright? Do you feel sick?" Erza didn't know what to do.

Lucy shook her head. "I'm alright. Don't worry. It's just...while I was locked in that room; I started thinking of all sorts of different things." She put Erza's hand between her own. She continued "I realized during that time...the reason I've been trying so hard to protect you...Erza, it's because-" Erza removed her hand from Lucy's grasp and gently placed her index finger on the latter's lips to stop her from talking.

"I think I know." She grabbed Lucy by the waist, and brought their bodies closer to each other. "Close your eyes." She whispered to Lucy. She slowly brought her lips to the blonde's. Bliss. Perfection. That's what this was. This one kiss was what intertwined their feelings. Neither wanted this moment to end.

The kiss lasted for a few seconds, which to them, felt like eternity.

Erza actually wasn't sure if Lucy reciprocated her feelings. She took a gamble, one that apparently paid off. Lucy loved her. Erza was sure of it now. The blonde needn't utter the words.

"I love you too, Lucy". Erza said, with a grin you most certainly never see on the red head.

Lucy smiled and rested her head on Erza's chest. She spoke slowly "Erza...I'm not strong enough to protect you, am I?"

Erza let out a small laugh. "Don't be silly, Lucy." She held her even tighter. She nuzzled Lucy's neck and spoke quietly. "I'll protect you. But I can't do it properly unless you protect me as well. We're a team after all. We're strongest when we work together. So, I'll be your knight, if you be my princess."

Lucy laughed to that, and whispered "I love you..." while holding onto her beloved.

"I-" As Erza was about to speak, she was interrupted, and their moment was ruined by the voice of the awfully surprised Salamander.

"Y-you two are in love?!" Natsu exclaimed.

Erza glared. Hard. A look that was meant to kill. Natsu was about to fear for his life when Gray joined in.

"Good job Natsu! You ruined the moment!" Gray said angrily.

Hearing the ice mage's voice, Natsu got irritated and forgot his fear.

"How was I supposed to know that?! I thought Lucy was hanging on to Erza because she was injured!"

Before the two could start a fairly stupid argument, Erza interrupted. Angrily. "How could you two betray Fairy Tail so easily?!"

Natsu began to panic "No no no no no no no!" Natsu kept shaking his head. "It's not like that, Erza! I swear!"

"Actually, this was part of my plan to have things sorted out between you two." Gray added, sweating.

Erza walked over to the two causing them to flinch. "Honestly...you guys..." She then gave them a hug and thanked them.

Juvia looked at the interaction in jealousy. _Erza-san! How dare you hug Gray-sama?!_

She went over and spoke to Gray. "Well, Gray-sama, since the plan was a success...can...we..." Juvia started stuttering.

Gajeel hit her on the back. "Come on! Stop being such a wuss!"

If looks could kill, Gajeel would be dead by now. Juvia turned back to Gray and continued "...can we...go on a date?" She said, rather coy.

Gray hesitated as he thought on how to answer. "Sure, Juvia. The plan wouldn't have been a success without you!" He said with a smile.

A date? With Gray? Juvia never thought this day would ever come.

"Oh, Gray-sama!" She suddenly became super clingy. "How about tomorrow?!"

"Works for me", Gray said while laughing.


	4. Second Thoughts

"I don't know about this Cana," Gray said as he watched his childhood friend sip beer through a silly straw. "I'm having second thought..."

"You mean your date with Juvia?" Cana asked.

"Yeah," Gray replied staring downward. "I'm afraid it might not go so well."

"What are you talking about? She uses water and you use ice! It's almost like you were made for each other," Cana said with a smile, attempting to lighten the mood a little.

"I don't know. I can't stop thinking about the what-ifs" Gray replied putting a slight emphasis on 'what-ifs.' "I mean what if I realize I don't really like her back or something bad happens? I don't want to hurt her."

"To me it sounds like you really do like her and you're afraid things won't work out between you," Cana said as she signalled for Mirajane to refill her beer which was still half full.

"Maybe you're right," Gray said as he looked over to the table where Juvia was sitting with Lisanna and Levy. "I don't know why but for some reason I'm nervous."

"The way I see it there are two possibilities," Cana said in a more assuring tone. "Either the date goes well and the two of you live happily ever after, or it can go horribly wrong but she will still be obsessed with you as if nothing happened." Cana paused to take a sip of her beer. "Either way, you have nothing to lose."

"You're right, thanks Cana." Gray said smiling as he stood up. "Now if you will excuse me, I have a date tonight."

As Gray walked away from the table Mirajane approached it. By now Cana had finished her beer.

"Hey Cana, I've been meaning to ask you something for a while, but didn't want to interrupt your conversation with Gray," Mirajane said as she refilled Cana's beer. "Why exactly are you drinking from a silly straw?"

"Well, I was on my way back from a job and I came across this bar. The owner said he had never seen anyone drink as much as I do so he challenged me to a drinking contest. He said if I won, I could drink there for free anytime I want," Cana answered while staring at the straw.

"I'm guessing you drink there a lot now?" Mirajane asked.

"No, my drinking habits caused them to go bankrupt in only one week," Cana replied

"Oh my!" Mirajane gasped, unsure why she was surprised by this.

"Anyway back to the straw," Cana continued. "After he lost the drinking contest, the owner was so drunk he asked me to marry him. This straw was what he proposed with so I kept it as a trophy."

* * *

On the walk back home, Gray noticed that he suddenly couldn't stop thinking of Juvia.

_'Now that I think about it, Juvia is madly in love with me and it's not like I hate her or anything. At least I know she would never leave me. In fact she's always been there for me; she would do anything for me. Maybe being with her wouldn't be so bad.'_


End file.
